Dive Brief:
- Honda is restructuring its U.S. manufacturing operations to prepare three Ohio plants for EV production as part of its plan to form an “EV Hub” in the state.
- The automaker will divert Accord and engine part production from its Marysville Auto and Anna Engine plants, and consolidate two of Marysville Auto’s assembly lines to retool for EVs, it outlined in a release.
- Changes to the Anna Engine facility will begin in August with Marysville Auto following suit in 2024. It is unclear when the third plant, East Liberty Auto, will make the transition to EVs.
Dive Insight:
Honda’s efforts to localize EV production in Ohio are taking shape. Last fall, the automaker announced it would spend $700 million to retool three Ohio plants to produce EVs as well as $3.5 billion on a joint venture battery plant.
Shifting gas vehicle production away from the plants will allow the automaker to start installing the equipment needed to produce EVs. In addition to retooling its Ohio plants, Honda will dedicate a production line at its Georgia Transmission Plant to manufacture e-axles needed to drive EVs.
The Marysville Auto Plant will be the first to make the transition to EVs by 2026, per the release. The Anna Engine Plant will produce battery cases for Honda’s EV batteries to be manufactured at its joint venture plant nearby.
“These Honda facilities, along with the new EV battery plant, will serve as a new EV hub in Ohio,” the company said in October.
Construction on the battery plant is slated to begin this year. Earlier this month, Honda inked a deal for key battery materials with battery recycler Ascend Elements.
